Note: In Man's Fate there are many different characters that have many different sub-plots that occur during the main plot, all of these different sub-plots and inner battles for the characters can make the book somewhat overwhelming.
Chen Ta Erh: The first character introduced. When we first meet Chen, about to assassinate an important leader of the government at the time. This assassination will cause Chen to feel closer to death and set Chen's mood and mentality throughout the rest of the book.
Kyo Gisors: Kyo is one of the leaders of the Chinese Revolution. He is married to May Gisors and his father is simpily known as Old Gisors.
Katov: Katov is a Russian soldier. After Kyos death, he becomes suddenly detached and isn't worried about death; he is relaxed and is ready to die.
Barron De Clappique: The Barron helped Kyo obtain the weapons he needed to fuel the Revolution. He is an excessive gambler. The Barron later learns that if he doesn't leave the city in 48 hours, he will be killed. On his way to warn Kyo, he's caught up gambling and doesn't make it in time. He ends up going to France dressed up as a sailor.
Old Gisors: Chens father.
May Gisors: Chens wife.
Ferral: The President of the French Chamber of Commerce who is trying to find out what is happening with the Revolution.
Valerie: Ferrals girlfriend
Chiang Kai-shek: One of the leaders of the Chinese Government. Chen is killed while trying to assassinate him.
Summary of Plot
When the story begins, we meet Chen, an assassin, contemplating if he should and how to kill an authority figure of the Government. After successfully completing the assassination, Chen goes to a small shop to tell Kyo and Katov of his success. Shortly after, Kyo and Katov lead a operation to steal arms and ammunition on a government ship. They met with the captain and seized the arms without difficulty. The Revolutionaries now had more arms, but it wasn't enough for the war they were waging. Therefore, they began a huge assault on over 200 seperate police stations to gain more arms. The Revolutionaries seperate into squads and gather all of their available arms. Then the teams got into position. They attacked. Their targets were caught by suprise. The Revolutionaries through grenades through the windows then charged in to clear out the survivors. But not many plans go perfect. A few of the teams, including Chens team, were overcome by the survivors of the initial surge. They kept on battling though, and with help from reenforcements, took control of most of the stations. Many soldiers were lost, but the revolutionaries had gained an abundence of arms. The Revolutionaries then hid of in the many stores and anywhere else that they could hide until they could escape the city.
As the Revolutionaries are traveling on the river towards Shanghai, Chen and Kyo try to convince the leader of one of their allies to allow Chen to assassinate Chaing Kai-shek. Through hours of discussion, their ally still isn't convinced, but Chen is. Then the story jumps to the Barron. He is in a bar when Count Shpilevski warns him to leave Shanghai because the police have news of him assisting the Revolutionaries. He knows now that he needs to warn Kyo to leave before Kyo goes out and is captured.
Now the story follows Chen again. We find him in Shanghai, making the final preparations for the assassionation of Chaing Kai-shek. Chen, Suan, and Pei, the three men picked for the job, all have bombs. Their job is simple enough, just act natural, then, throw theirbombs at Chaing's car as he rounds a corner to turn. Unfortunately for the assassins though, Chaing is going faster than expected and Chen gets cought up with a persistent shop keeper, so they decide that rather than risking missing, they will wait for a second attempt. So they meet and formulate a new plan, and Chen is sure that their best chance of success is not to throw the bomb when their is a chance of missing, but for him to through himself under the car and take the car and all its occupants with him. While this is going on, Kyo has learned a horrible thing, for some reason, the Government was wary of an attack on Chaing, and their were over a dozen cars just like Chaings with guards just like Chaings. Back in the streets, Chen hears a car horn. When he looks Chaings car seems to be coming extraordinarily fast. Suddenly the car slows down for a group of rickshaws obstructing the street. Chen knows that this is his best opportunity. He sprints out and throws himself upon the car. He didn't feel the pain he was expecting. He came to and was holding onto a piece of car hood. He looked around and discovered the reckage of the car on the side of the road. Then he became aware of the pain. He almost fainted from it, but he stayed concious and heard someone coming. He instincively reached for the pocket one of his revolvers was in. His leg was gone, all that was left was shredded flesh. He grabbed his revolver from his coat and fired a shot in the direction of the noise. Then the policeman reached him and kicked him in the ribs. Chen knew that hope was lost for him, so he stuck the barrel in his mouth. The police kicked him furiously, causing his muscles to contract, he fired the shot without even being aware of it.
We return to the Barron. He is going to warn Kyo, but he gets caught up on the way. There is a roulette game, and he has time. So he plays, and he plays, and he plays. He looks at the clock. He's too late.
Katov is at the post, him and his men are prepared for anything, or so they think. Some time in the middle of the night, they are ambushed by Government soldiers. The Revolutionaries machine gun is doing all it can, but there are just too many men. The gunner is shot, and shortly after there is an explosion that rocks the post. Katov is knocked out. When he comes to he is captured.
Katov is brought to a schoolyard. In the room there are over twohundred men waiting, no doubt, to be executed. One by one they are brought through a door. While Katov is waiting he finds Kyo, who was captured while walking with May. They talk with each other, for they were prepared for this. They each pulled out a package out of their belt buckles that contain a cyanide pill. Kyo took his, and almost immediatly died from convolusive suffocation. Then Katov looked around and saw two weeping men. He learned that one of them was Suan, who had been caught with his bomb after Chen blew up the car. Suan told him that Chaing hadn't been in the car. Suan also told him what their fate would be. The government soldiers were throwing the prisoners into the boiler of the lolomotive. Upon looking at the men crying, Katov decided to give up the thing that he believed was worth more than his life now. He broke the pill in two and gave it to the two men. Then the guards called him out, it was his time to face his death. Outstanding Book?
There are several good reasons why Man's Fate is on the outstand books list. This book is a true tragedy. It will evoke feelings that you didn't know you had. "A sound of deep breathing, the same as that of sleep, began to rise from the ground: breathing through their noses, their jaws clenched with anguish, motionless now, all those wh were not yet dead were waiting for the whistle" (Malraux 326). This quote describes the sheer terror of being forced to wait for your death and knowing that every time that whistle blew, another one of your friends just died. The book just describes the emotions of the people of the time perfectly. You can feel the emotions that the characters are feeling without Malraux having to tell you.
Recomendation
I would recommend this book to everyone, it is one of the best books I have ever read. Just make sure you take your time to understand what is going on, because it can be difficult to follow at times.
Source:
Malraux, Andre. Man's Fate. New York: Vintage Books, 1990
Man's Fate a.k.a. La Condition Humaine
Chacters
Note: In Man's Fate there are many different characters that have many different sub-plots that occur during the main plot, all of these different sub-plots and inner battles for the characters can make the book somewhat overwhelming.
Summary of Plot
When the story begins, we meet Chen, an assassin, contemplating if he should and how to kill an authority figure of the Government. After successfully completing the assassination, Chen goes to a small shop to tell Kyo and Katov of his success. Shortly after, Kyo and Katov lead a operation to steal arms and ammunition on a government ship. They met with the captain and seized the arms without difficulty. The Revolutionaries now had more arms, but it wasn't enough for the war they were waging. Therefore, they began a huge assault on over 200 seperate police stations to gain more arms. The Revolutionaries seperate into squads and gather all of their available arms. Then the teams got into position. They attacked. Their targets were caught by suprise. The Revolutionaries through grenades through the windows then charged in to clear out the survivors. But not many plans go perfect. A few of the teams, including Chens team, were overcome by the survivors of the initial surge. They kept on battling though, and with help from reenforcements, took control of most of the stations. Many soldiers were lost, but the revolutionaries had gained an abundence of arms. The Revolutionaries then hid of in the many stores and anywhere else that they could hide until they could escape the city.
As the Revolutionaries are traveling on the river towards Shanghai, Chen and Kyo try to convince the leader of one of their allies to allow Chen to assassinate Chaing Kai-shek. Through hours of discussion, their ally still isn't convinced, but Chen is. Then the story jumps to the Barron. He is in a bar when Count Shpilevski warns him to leave Shanghai because the police have news of him assisting the Revolutionaries. He knows now that he needs to warn Kyo to leave before Kyo goes out and is captured.
Now the story follows Chen again. We find him in Shanghai, making the final preparations for the assassionation of Chaing Kai-shek. Chen, Suan, and Pei, the three men picked for the job, all have bombs. Their job is simple enough, just act natural, then, throw theirbombs at Chaing's car as he rounds a corner to turn. Unfortunately for the assassins though, Chaing is going faster than expected and Chen gets cought up with a persistent shop keeper, so they decide that rather than risking missing, they will wait for a second attempt. So they meet and formulate a new plan, and Chen is sure that their best chance of success is not to throw the bomb when their is a chance of missing, but for him to through himself under the car and take the car and all its occupants with him. While this is going on, Kyo has learned a horrible thing, for some reason, the Government was wary of an attack on Chaing, and their were over a dozen cars just like Chaings with guards just like Chaings. Back in the streets, Chen hears a car horn. When he looks Chaings car seems to be coming extraordinarily fast. Suddenly the car slows down for a group of rickshaws obstructing the street. Chen knows that this is his best opportunity. He sprints out and throws himself upon the car. He didn't feel the pain he was expecting. He came to and was holding onto a piece of car hood. He looked around and discovered the reckage of the car on the side of the road. Then he became aware of the pain. He almost fainted from it, but he stayed concious and heard someone coming. He instincively reached for the pocket one of his revolvers was in. His leg was gone, all that was left was shredded flesh. He grabbed his revolver from his coat and fired a shot in the direction of the noise. Then the policeman reached him and kicked him in the ribs. Chen knew that hope was lost for him, so he stuck the barrel in his mouth. The police kicked him furiously, causing his muscles to contract, he fired the shot without even being aware of it.
We return to the Barron. He is going to warn Kyo, but he gets caught up on the way. There is a roulette game, and he has time. So he plays, and he plays, and he plays. He looks at the clock. He's too late.
Katov is at the post, him and his men are prepared for anything, or so they think. Some time in the middle of the night, they are ambushed by Government soldiers. The Revolutionaries machine gun is doing all it can, but there are just too many men. The gunner is shot, and shortly after there is an explosion that rocks the post. Katov is knocked out. When he comes to he is captured.
Katov is brought to a schoolyard. In the room there are over twohundred men waiting, no doubt, to be executed. One by one they are brought through a door. While Katov is waiting he finds Kyo, who was captured while walking with May. They talk with each other, for they were prepared for this. They each pulled out a package out of their belt buckles that contain a cyanide pill. Kyo took his, and almost immediatly died from convolusive suffocation. Then Katov looked around and saw two weeping men. He learned that one of them was Suan, who had been caught with his bomb after Chen blew up the car. Suan told him that Chaing hadn't been in the car. Suan also told him what their fate would be. The government soldiers were throwing the prisoners into the boiler of the lolomotive. Upon looking at the men crying, Katov decided to give up the thing that he believed was worth more than his life now. He broke the pill in two and gave it to the two men. Then the guards called him out, it was his time to face his death.
Outstanding Book?
There are several good reasons why Man's Fate is on the outstand books list. This book is a true tragedy. It will evoke feelings that you didn't know you had. "A sound of deep breathing, the same as that of sleep, began to rise from the ground: breathing through their noses, their jaws clenched with anguish, motionless now, all those wh were not yet dead were waiting for the whistle" (Malraux 326). This quote describes the sheer terror of being forced to wait for your death and knowing that every time that whistle blew, another one of your friends just died. The book just describes the emotions of the people of the time perfectly. You can feel the emotions that the characters are feeling without Malraux having to tell you.
Recomendation
I would recommend this book to everyone, it is one of the best books I have ever read. Just make sure you take your time to understand what is going on, because it can be difficult to follow at times.
Source:
Malraux, Andre. Man's Fate. New York: Vintage Books, 1990